OMAHA (DTN) -- The age limit for U.S. beef exports to Japan will increase to 30 months from 20 months this Friday, Feb. 1, following final approval in Japan on Monday.

The beef industry has been prodding the Japanese to raise the age limit for years, and the move is expected to result in millions of dollars of additional U.S. beef exports. However, industry officials are unsure when U.S. beef from the new age limits will reach Japanese shores.

"It's a question now of getting the regulatory side of it up to speed," U.S. Meat Export Federation spokesman Joe Schuele ...